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Abstract:

An integral lift assembly incorporated into a storage compartment under
the patient compartment of an emergency vehicle. The integral lift
assembly is stored in the storage compartment until a patient is loaded
onto the emergency vehicle. During the loading process, the integral lift
assembly extends, under power, from the storage compartment, and is
lowered to the ground to allow a stretcher or gurney to be rolled onto
it. A lift arm raises the structure or gurney, under power, and
automatically aligns it with the floor of the patient compartment. The
stretcher or gurney is then rolled into the patient compartment. The lift
arm then rotates to a storage position and is retracted to a storage
compartment underneath the patient compartment.

Claims:

1. An integral lift assembly for an emergency vehicle, comprising: a
storage compartment having a suitable size to contain a lift arm, a
telescoping support, and a power drive system to manipulate the lift arm
and the telescoping support; means to extend the lift arm with the
telescoping support and to rotate the lift arm such that it rests in a
lowered position; means to rotate the lift arm such that it is
substantially aligned with the floor of the passenger compartment in the
emergency vehicle; means to retract the integral lift assembly into the
storage compartment.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is related to, and claims the benefit of, the
provisional patent application entitled "Apparatus and Method for Lifting
And/Or Lowering Stretchers Or Gurneys Into, Or Out Of, Emergency
Vehicles", filed Mar. 17, 2010, bearing U.S. Ser. No. 61/314,698 and
naming Mark Gale, the named inventor herein, as sole inventor, the
contents of which is specifically incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] 1. Technical Field

[0003] This invention relates in general to emergency vehicles, and more
particularly it relates to an emergency vehicle that has an integral
powered lift mechanism to raise or lower a cot, stretcher or gurney when
loading the cot, stretcher or gurney onto, or off of, the emergency
vehicle.

[0004] 2. Background of the Invention

[0005] First responders to emergency situations are often required to
transport an individual, whether injured or unconscious, to a treatment
facility such as a hospital. A variety of individuals work as first
responders. They can be ambulance personnel, fire department personnel,
etc. Regardless of their status, they are exposed to potential injury on
daily basis. The reason for this is that when transporting patients, the
patients often have to be carried and lifted onto an ambulance or other
of emergency vehicle. Normally, personnel who work in this field are
physically fit and lifting a cot, stretcher or gurney when transporting
an ordinary individual is not a problem. However, there are situations,
such as transporting bariatric patients, where the patient's weight in
combination with the weight of the gurney can be substantial. When this
happens, emergency personnel are exposed to a risk of injury to
themselves or the patient.

[0006] A major risk to emergency workers, among other things, is the
possibility of back injuries. This type of injury often results in
debilitating pain that prevents an individual from working. Further, this
type of injury often requires surgery, and in many cases results in
lifelong problems. It would be desirable to have a way for emergency
workers to avoid this type of injury.

[0007] Back injuries affect more than the individual worker. They also
create substantial financial costs for the employer. This type of injury
can have a very large effect on the employer's medical costs, and may
result in lifelong disability payments. As a result, employers also have
a substantial interest in avoiding this type of injury to their
personnel.

[0008] In addition to emergency personnel and their employer, back
injuries may also place the patient at risk. For example, when emergency
medical personnel attempt to lift a patient, a back injury to emergency
medical personnel may cause the patient to be dropped. This has a
potential for injury to the patient that may result in further medical
costs and litigation that could be very expensive for the employer.

[0009] Attempts to address this problem have resulted in the development
of gurneys with built-in lifts. The lifts may be raised or lowered under
power, or manually operated. While this helps, at some point the
emergency medical personnel are still required to lift the patient to
move the patient onto the ambulance or other emergency vehicle. As a
result, there is still a possibility of injury. It would be desirable to
have a method of loading a patient on to, or off of, an emergency vehicle
without requiring the emergency personnel to physically lift the patient.

[0010] The prior art has provided a variety of cots, stretchers and
gurneys that are wheeled, and which may optionally have power lifts to
raise the patient. For ease of discussion, the terms "ambulance cot,"
"stretcher," and "gurney" will be used interchangeably throughout this
specification. Unfortunately, this type of gurney is typically not
designed to exactly match the floor level of a given emergency vehicle.
As a result, the mismatch between the floor level of emergency vehicle
and the height of the gurney still requires some lifting on the part of
emergency medical personnel. The prior art has failed to provide a method
of loading the patient onto an emergency vehicle that only requires a
wheeled gurney to be rolled onto the emergency vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] This invention provides an integral lift assembly that is
incorporated into an emergency vehicle. The integral lift assembly is
stored underneath the floor of the patient compartment of the emergency
vehicle. When the patient is loaded onto the emergency vehicle, the
integral lift assembly is extended, under power, from underneath the
patient compartment. A lift arm in the integral lift assembly is rotated
and lowered to the ground to allow the stretcher or gurney to be mounted
on it. The lift arm is then raised, under power, and automatically
aligned with the floor of the patient compartment. The gurney is then
rolled into the patient compartment. The lift arm then rotates to a
storage position and is retracted to a storage compartment underneath the
patient compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the integral lift assembly in the storage
position.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the integral lift assembly in the extended
position.

[0014]FIG. 3 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the lift arm of the integral lift assembly in the
lowered position.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the lift arm of the integral lift assembly in the
raised position.

[0016]FIG. 5 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the lift arm of the integral lift assembly in the
retracted raised position prior to loading a gurney onto the emergency
vehicle.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the lift arm of the integral lift assembly in the
retracted raised position after loading a gurney onto the emergency
vehicle.

[0018]FIG. 7 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the integral lift assembly in the extended storage
position prior to storage of the integral lift into the emergency
vehicle.

[0019]FIG. 8 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle with the integral lift assembly in the retracted
storage position after storage of the integral lift into the emergency
vehicle.

[0020]FIG. 9 is an end view of a preferred embodiment of an emergency
vehicle with the integral lift assembly in the retracted storage
position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0021] The invention provides a retractable folding lift assembly that is
stored in a storage compartment under the patient compartment of an
emergency vehicle. When a patient is loaded onto the emergency vehicle,
the retractable folding left assembly extends outward from the storage
compartment and then lowers a lift arm to the ground to allow a stretcher
or gurney to be loaded onto it. Likewise, it is assumed that a patient is
on the gurney, but for ease of illustration, patients have been omitted
from the drawings. Once the gurney is loaded onto the lift assembly, the
lift arm raises the gurney and automatically aligns it with the floor of
the patient compartment to allow a gurney to be rolled into the patient
compartment without lifting the gurney. As a result, serious back
injuries to emergency personnel are avoided because they are not required
to lift the gurney or the patient to get the patient into the emergency
vehicle. Once the patient and the gurney are loaded into the patient
compartment, the lift arm folds onto the lift mechanism and is retracted
into the storage compartment underneath the patient compartment.

[0022] The invention provides advantages for the emergency personnel, for
their employer, and for the patients. The ability to load a patient onto
an ambulance, especially a bariatric patient, without requiring emergency
personnel to lift the patient will avoid injuries to the emergency
personnel. In particular, not being required to lift heavy weights will
avoid numerous back injuries which can be expensive to treat, and which
can cause debilitating pain to the employee. The employer benefits
because reduction in injuries to employees has a direct effect on the
profitability of the organization. Patients also benefit because they can
be safely loaded onto an emergency vehicle with the greatly reduced
possibility of accidental injury. This also affects the employer's
profitability because the employer is less likely to be exposed to
litigation from any injury to a patient.

[0023] For ease of discussion, the drive mechanism that powers the
integral lift assembly is described in terms of a pneumatic system.
However, those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative power
systems can be used, such as electric motors, internal combustion engine
drives, etc.

[0024] For ease of discussion, the integral lift system is shown as an
integral part of the emergency vehicle that may have been installed at
the point of manufacture of the vehicle. However, those skilled in the
art will recognize that the integral lift system can also be manufactured
separately and installed as a retrofit system on pre-existing emergency
vehicles.

[0025] Having discussed the features and advantages of the invention in
general, we turn now to a discussion of the drawings.

[0026]FIG. 1 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the integral lift assembly 3-7 in the storage
position. In this position, the storage position, the integral lift
assembly 3-7 is stored underneath the floor 2 of the patient compartment
of the emergency vehicle 1. As shown in this figure, the integral lift
assembly 3-7 folds into a compact storage configuration that takes a
minimum amount of space. The integral lift assembly 3-7 comprises a
telescoping support 4, a hydraulic power system 3 attached to the
telescoping support 4, a lift arm 5, and a rotating arm 6 which is
attached to the list arm 5 and the telescoping support 4 via hydraulic
drives 7. Also shown in this figure are wheels 8. As can be seen, the
integral lift assembly 3-7 can be secured between the real wheels and
under the floor 2 of the passenger compartment of the emergency vehicle
1. Telescoping supports, hydraulic drives, and pivoting arms are well
known in the art and do not require more detailed descriptions herein.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the integral lift assembly 3-7 in the extended
position. In this position, the telescoping support 4 extends outward a
sufficient distance to allow the lift arm 5 to rotate under control of
the rotating arm 6 and the hydraulic drives 7.

[0028]FIG. 3 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of the
emergency vehicle 1 with the lift arm 5 of the integral lift assembly 3-7
in the lowered position. In this position, the lift arm 5 rests on the
ground. This allows the gurney 9 to be rolled onto the lift arm 5 merely
by pushing it into position. The gurney 9 does not have to be lifted.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the lift arm 5 of the integral lift assembly 3-7
in the raised position. In this position, the gurney 9 has been raised
such that the top surface of the lift arm 5 is substantially aligned with
the top surface of the floor 2 of the passenger compartment of the
emergency vehicle 1.

[0030]FIG. 5 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the lift arm 5 of the integral lift assembly 3-7
in the retracted raised position prior to loading a gurney onto the
emergency vehicle 1. In this position, the telescoping support 4 is
retracted such that the edge of the lift arm 5 is substantially in
contact with the edge of the floor 2 of the patient compartment. At this
point, the gurney 9 can be pushed, in the direction indicated by the
arrow, into the passenger compartment. By automatically aligning the lift
arm 5 with the floor 2 of the passenger compartment, the emergency
personnel only need to push the gurney 9, they do not have to lift it.

[0031]FIG. 6 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the lift arm 5 of the integral lift assembly 3-7
in the retracted raised position after loading a gurney 9, as indicated
by the arrow, onto the emergency vehicle 1.

[0032]FIG. 7 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the integral lift assembly 3-7 in the extended
storage position prior to storage into the emergency vehicle 1.

[0033]FIG. 8 is a side transparent view of a preferred embodiment of an
emergency vehicle 1 with the integral lift assembly 3-7 in the retracted
storage position in the emergency vehicle 1.

[0034]FIG. 9 is an end view of a preferred embodiment of an emergency
vehicle 1 with the integral lift assembly 3-7 in the retracted storage
position.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the integral lift
assembly 3-7 can be fabricated from any suitable material. The only
requirement is that whatever materials are selected should be suitable
for the contemplated weights to be lifted, and for environmental factors.
Likewise, the use of a pneumatic drive system 3 was only one potential
method of controlling the motion of the lift arm 5. Any suitable
alternative method, such as electric motors, rack and pinion systems,
etc. can be used in place of the pneumatic drive system 3, or in
combination with it. Of course, the size of the various components of the
integral lift assembly 3-7 can vary to suit particular vehicles and
purposes.

[0036] In operation, the invention provides a conveniently located, power
driven system, which eliminates the need for emergency personnel to lift
the heavy weights that are a primary cause of back injuries among
emergency personnel.

[0037] While specific embodiments have been discussed to illustrate the
invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
variations in the embodiments can be made without departing from the
spirit of the invention. Materials may be substituted, drive systems can
be changed, sizes can be changed to suit particular vehicles, etc.
Therefore, the invention shall be limited solely by the scope of the
claims.